The Other Side of the River

The Other Side of the River

A Story of Two Towns, a Death, and America's Dilemma

The Other Side of the River is a a very interesting book by Alex Kotlowitz about two towns that are very different even though nothing but a river separated them.  I thought that the title of this book as very symbolic, the "river" was more then something that just separated Benton Harbor and St. Joseph; the river is a barrier flowing all around the world in between people.  

Overall I thought that this book was very unique, what I mean is that the author had a very unique style of writing.  There were many parts of the book where where you could tell that he was not being literal, instead he used symbol's to represent what he was talking about; this inspired me in my writing to be more symbolic instead of just saying the obvious.  One of the things that I did not like about this book was how the author would be very random at times, those were the parts where this book would confuse me, the book would just all of a sudden change the subject and I didn't really understand why.   I am glad that I read this book in school because if I didn't read this book here, I cannot imagine myself picking this book up wanting to read it, I would think that I would not understand it (sometimes I did not understand it, but most of the time I did).  

I though that this book was very well written, you could really tell that the author did his research because this book was based on on a true story, a boy in Benton Harbor named Eric McGinnis really was found on that early morning of May 1991, and they still are trying to figure out what really happened to him.  Everybody has their own theories, but to this day no one knows what really happened to him.  Alex Kotlowitz went to Benton Harbor in search of the true story.  He spent hours talking to many residents of both Benton Harbor & St. Joseph for many years just for this book.  

When you read the end of this book it makes you realize that this book is more than just about trying to figure out what happened to Eric McGinnis; this book is about Benton Harbor & St. Joseph.  As Kotolowitz was talking to all these people asking about Eric, he got so much more out of them, he learned about their background, their beliefs, their families and so much more; he basically learned more about their life by talking to them about Eric McGinnis.  By interviewing all of these people we learned the differences of the lives of the people on both sides of the river, and how Benton Harbor & St. Joseph were more than just two town separated by a river, but more like two completely different worlds.  

I would recommend this book to people who enjoy reading and who are good at comprehending confusing books.  This book can get very confusing going from past to present.  Reading this book taught me not to give up when you think something is boring because in the end, you might learn something; there were times when I really did not want to read this book and I just wanted to give up on it because I did not understand it, but I kept reading and eventually I grasped the over all meaning of the book.  To me the message of this book is to not let the "river" in your life separate you form other people, everybody is equal.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #13

Chapter 13- Nigthmares & Bedtime Stories

"Kill the Beast, Cut His Throat, Spill His Blood!, Kill the Beast, Cut His Throat, Spill his Blood!"  The boys were all chanting above Ralph, their spears a s sharp as shark teeth, the last thing Ralph saw was the hatred in Jack's dark eyes as he was standing above him with his spear to his heart.

"Ahhh!" Ralph woke up lying on his bed, he was sweating and breathing heavily, "It was justa dream, it was on ly another dream" he told himself.  It had only been two weeks since they had been rescued form the island.  But the memories were still fresh in his mind, everything since the first day when he was walking on the beach with Piggy, to the last day when he thought that Jack was going to murder him, when he thought that it was all over, when he lost all hope.  Ralph had been having all sorts of nightmares since he had left the island, now he was just living a normal life again, as if nothing had ever happened; the only diffrence was that now his parents were much more overprotective than before, they never wanted him to dissapear like that ever again, they wouldn'y even send him to school yet.

Ralph sat on his bed and refleted on his journey back home... After   the naval officer had found them on the island he had his men search the whole island for any surviving boys, no one said anything about Simon, Piggy, or the boy with the mullberry birthmark, not even Ralph.  The ride back home was very long and unconfortable, especially for Ralph.  I mean really put yourself in his position: your on a ship fo about two weeks with a group of savage boys that want to kill you and the only thing that is stopping them is the fact that the ship is full of trained naval officers with a lot of military experience, you would be unconfortable too.  In time everyone recovered form thie experince on the island.  Percival recovered, Maurice recovered, Robert recovered, even Rodger recovered, and Jack, well Jack is another story.  Sadly, Jack did not recover; he was very upset after all of the power that he lost, it just happened so quickly, all becuase if that naval officer.  Jack hated that naval officer, he did not want to go back home, he did not miss anyone, not his friends, not his family, he did not want anyone telling him what to do anymore, he just did whatever he wanted now.  the naval officer noticed Jack's problems on the ship and when they all returned home he convinced his mother to shend him to the RCTC, the Rehabilitation center for Troubled Children. 

Ralph remembered the first time he saw Jack, he was just an innocent little choirboy, with his little black robe and his little black cap.  He also remembered the last time he saw Jack, it was on that cold December day on that dock, the day they returend to England.  Sion's mother was there: the school gave out a notice  to all of the parents that lost their childrenon the crash.  Simon's family and Jack's family had been very good friends for many years and Simon's mother went up to Jack as he was leaving, 

"Have yo seen Simon darling"

"I'm afraid I haven't ma'am" replied Jack with an evil smirk as her eyes filled with tears...

Knoking on the door suddenly inturupted Ralph's flashback.

"Ralph, are you allright , i heard you screaming," Ralphs motehr asked refering to hi nightmare.

"Yeah I'm fine mum, don't worry about it"

"Allright, Goodnight"

"'Night mum" he replied as he sighed.  Ralph had told his parents about the island, but he had no exactly told them the whole story.  He told them that it was a nice peace full island that was all fine and jolly, you know like the the kind of islands that you see in movies and TV shows, where everythign is like some kind of fantacy world, yeah right.  He couldn't tell them the truth about what really happened on the island or they would send him to a psychiatrist, or worse, they would send him to the RCTC with Jack.  Ralph sat back as he was falling asleep adn thought about his experience on the island, it was something that he never wanted to forget, but also something that he hoped no one would ever have to go through.  I mean imagine if everyone went through that experince in their life, half the world would be in rehab; our world would be a mess.  Ralph knew that he had changed since he had come back form teh island, btu he really hoped that this change would make him any diffrnet in a negative way.  He hoped that thid change would not affect his future.

: . : 20 years later : . :

"Daddy, I don't wanna go to bed" complained Theodore

"You have to get your rest, were going to the zoo tommorow, remember!" replied Ralph

"Can you at least tell me a bedtime story before I go to bed, Pleaaaase!"

"All right, all right, one story, but you have to promise to go to bed afterwards, Okay?"

"I promise"

"Which story  do you want to hear tonight?"

"The one about the boys on the island!"

"Okay, where were we?"

"The part where Jack takes Piggy's glassses to make a fire!"

"Oh yeah, so evil Jack took Piggy's glasses, and there wa not really anything he could to about it because Jack was so mean and..."

 : . : The End : . :

Lord of the Flies: Journal #12

Chapter 12 - Cry of The Hunters

All that for Nothing - Jack

I can't beilieve it after everything I did, after all of the power I had, it dosen't matter anymore, because we were rescued. I mean I pretty much had all the power of this island and right before we were about to kill Ralph, they came. Ralph is a lucky guy, I mean if they would have came like 10 minutes later he would have been dead, but they came just in time to save Ralph. It's not that I didn't want to be resuced it's just that now that were going back home I'm just going to be same old Jack Merridew again, same old Jack Merridew that has to go to school, same old Jack Merridew that has to do his homework, and same old Jack Merridew that has to litsen to grown-ups. After all that we went through, it dosen't mean anything anymore, beacause were going back.  

On the othe hand when I saw Jack walking up to us with that officer, it was that moment that I realized how much I really missed home, and how much I really wanted to get off of this island.  When I get home I naver have to see or deal with any of these boys ever again, especially Ralph.  When I saw that officer he remiended me of my father and then I started thinking about my parents, this whole time they probobly thought I was dead.  I haven't thought about going home at all ever since the day Ralph and Piggy saw that navy ship and got really mad at me, in fact this whole time I was trying to avoid the topic of going home.  I guess Simon was right, all we needed was hope.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #11

Chapter 11 - Castle Rock

Were All Gonna Die Here - Ralph

I can't believe this, first Simon, now Piggy, we have to get off of this island now! This is just getting way out of control.  Ever since Jack became 'chief' anyone who I actually likes me gets killed, for all I know Samneric could be next, all because of me, all because Jack hates me.  Is it my fault that Simon and Piggy got killed?  I mean with Simon if we would have never gone to Jack's feast, Simon would have found us at our camp and we would probably be sleeping and everything would just be all fine and jolly.  With Piggy, we should have took better care of Piggy's glasses, them Jack wouldn't have found them and taken them, and then we wouldn't be going after him and get smashed by rocks.

Poor Simon, he was such nice guy, to be honest I never really liked Piggy he was always very annoying all talking about his ass-mar, but he was loyal, he never went off to join Jack like the rest of all of them, so I guess I miss him too.  I swear if we don't get rescued soon were all going to die, even Jack.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #10

Chapter 10 - The Shell & The Glasses

It was an accident... - Piggy

Even I have been trying to convince Ralph that we didn't kill Simon and that it was just an accident, I know the real truth, but I just can't get myself to admit it.  I can' t believe that we murdered Simon, how could we.  Now I want to get off of this island more than ever, I mean for all I know I could be next.  There is no order on this island anymore, ever since Jack became chief things are just so barmy.  If Ralph was still chief Simon would probably still be here. My auntie always told me that hate was a very strong word and to never use it against anyone, but I hate Jack so much.

I wonder what Jack is doing right now, he is pretty much in charge of all of the boys now, except for Ralph, Samneric, and me.   There up on Castle Rock, he doesn't even care that we lost Simon, he probably convinced the other boys not to care either.  Today he took my specs, and I know why, he took them to make the fire, he could have just took some of our fire, but he took my specs so that he wouldn't have to come back here to keep taking the fire.  I hate to admit it, but Jacks a pretty smart guy.  I don' think that the rest of the boys realize that now that Jack has all the power were all going to die, we need to be purged.  All we have left now is hope...

Lord of the Flies: Journal #9

Chapter 9 - A View to a Death

I Died... - Simon

For the most part today was a good day, well except for the end. Anyway, I must have fallen asleep or something because I had some kind of dream illusion type thing that I was talking to the Lord of the Flies, you know the pig on the stick full of black blood and flies. It was weird because somehow the Lord of the Flies was me, well not the regular me, a different side of me, the bad side of me, kind of like my own beastie, it was just really weird. The Lord of the Flies told me that I was wrong, you know how I told everyone that the beastie is just the evil in the each of us. He told me that if I kept telling every one that, they were going to kill me, even Piggy, even Ralph, well it turned out he was right

After I talked to the Lord of the Flies I realized that the beastie that everyone was saying they saw on the top of the mountain was just a dead British army solider with a huge parachute. I was so exited to go tell everyone. So I was on my way and suddenly it started to rain and I tripped on the parachute, I fell and tripped all over the place it was very dark and wet. Finally I got to the camp and I could not wait to tell everyone that i found the real beastie. Suddenly everyone formed a circle around me and started chanting and stabbing me, I think they thought I was the beastie, I mean it was very dark and my face was full of blood, I yelled and screamed trying to tell them about the real beastie and that it was just me, Simon, but it was impossible to tell them over all of their chanting and yelling. How could they do this to me, what did I ever do, honestly I thought I was one of the nicest people on this island. Even Piggy and Ralph were in it, just like the Lord of the Flies told me they would be. The last thing I saw was Jack's dark eyes full of hatred, I started to loose consciousness and them everything went black...I died.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #8

Chapter 8 - Gift for the darkness

Finally - Jack

Finally, everyone is starting to see that I am a better leader than Ralph, finally everyone is getting some sense in there head.  I knew from the beginning that Ralph wasn't going to make a good chief, so he blew the conch and brought us all together, big deal.  I happen to be a prefect, which makes me have much better leadership skills.  Ralph doesn't do anything around here, all he does is boss us around and blow that stupid shell.  Now that I am the leader of most of the boys, I can do anything and I can tell them to do anything I want, we won't have to follow Ralph's stupid rules & taboo's.

Today was a very productive day, much more productive than it would have been if Ralph was in charge. Not only did I separate from Ralph, get my own followers, and take Ralph's fire but I also killed a very large pig, well some of the boys helped, but I did most of it.  Now that I'm in charge I see a very bright future ahead of us.  I think that I'm being very demure about this whole thing. 

Lord of the Flies: Journal #7

Chapter 7 - Shadows & Tall Trees

It's Getting Weirder & Weirder Every Day - Ralph

Well were still here, on this island... now were looking for a 'beastie', and I think were wasting our time, there can't really be a beastie on this island, the closest we have to a beastie on this island is Jack.  I mean were risking our lives on the other side of the island looking for something that the litluns probably just had a nightmare about or something.  We could be doing something more important right now like gathering food or building more huts, but no were here hunting the beastie.

No one respects me as chief anymore, except for Piggy, I wonder how Piggy's keeping up with the littluns right now.  I hope Simon's okay, we asked someone to volunteer to go out in the windy jungle to go tell Piggy that we were okay, and Simon volunteered right away, he was so impervious, I thought that that was very strange, but I guess he just wanted to help, it was very bravado and sagely of him, I mean it's a really long journey across the moors.

 

Lord of the Flies: Journal #6

Chapter 6 - Beast from Air

Is there a Beastie or Not?  - Piggy

Today was a bit confusing, I am not exactly sure what's going on, it all just happened so fast.  I all started early in the morning, I was just peacefully sleeping when all of a sudden I heard Sam n' Eric yelling and people shouting my name,  it was just interminable.  The twins said something about a beastie, that they actually saw one, they said it chased them, and they described it really scary, sort of like leviathan.  Even though i didn't want to be embroiled, I asked Ralph if he believed the twins, he just said that this was just like all of the other times that the litluns said they saw or heard a beastie, that they probably hust had a bad dream or something, he was very diffidently about it. 

Honestly I think that Jack and Ralph did believe Sam n' Eric, I mean why else would they go out looking for it with the hunters all mutinously.  Of course once again they made me stay with the litluns while they  went on their exiting beastie hunt.  It's not fair why can't I ever come along, Simon can take care of the litluns, they actually like him.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #5

Chapter 5 -  Beast from the Water

This is Just Getting to Crazy - Simon

Today Ralph called a meeting, but it wasn't like other times.  This time Ralph was really mad and strict, he was just really direct and to the point.  I think that he is still upset about that whole ship thing.  Ralph made new rules and really made the point today that he was our chief, he really took advantage of that today. Of course the whole time Jack was just looking at him jeeringly.  The meeting was actually going kind of okay, until someone mentioned it, the beastie.

This time Percival brought it up, and when he did everyone went crazy, everyone wanted to talk at the same time and it was ludicrous.  That was definitely a time where we needed adults.  When it came to the beastie we only got to the conclusion that since it's not on the island it's probably a water beastie.  Don't tell Jack but I actually believe in the beastie, I  mean why would the littluns make up something like that, and they seem like their really scared, at night I can hear  lamentaion. Even though Jack and Ralph act like they don't believe in the beastie, I'm sure they do, and I'm sure their just as scared as everyone else.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #4

Chapter 4 - Painted Faces & Long Hair

I Hate to Admit it.. But I Messed Up - by Jack

You better not tell anyone, If you do i will hurt you, but I really messed up today.  How could I be so obsessed with killing that pig  and  when I finally did kill it the fealing wasn't as good as I thought it would be, I mean I was really proud of myself at first, but then I realized that it wasn't worth it. I mean Ralph said he saw a ship, we could have been rescued, we could've gone back home, the pig was definatly not worth that.  

It's just that I felt like I had to kill that pig.  On that first day that we came on this island and I had a perfect shot to kill the pig, but when it came down to kill it I just could'nt do it.  I mean Iv'e never killed anything in my life ever, I mean I've killed flies but that dosen't count.  I just felt like I had to prove myself, I'm the leader of the hunters, and if I can't kill a pig then no one should be able to.

So much was going on today, everyone was so blant.  How was I supposed to know that today out of all days a ship would accually pass by today.  I mean really out of all the moments for a ship to pass by it had to pass by the day I took the twins to help me.  Even when the smoke did go out, the twins probobly woulden't be able to put it back on by themselves anyway.  I don't know why Ralph got so mad at me, his attitude was so belligarant and he looked at me so malevontly all day, it wasen't compleatly my fault, well... I guess it kind of was... 

Lord of the Flies: Journal #3

Chapter 3 - Huts on the Beach

Being Chief is NOT easy - Ralph

Why doesn't anyone understand that I am the leader, and I make decisions, and everyone is actually supposed to listen to me.  I mean they are the ones that voted me leader the least they can do is help build the huts.  Why won't anyone at least do that, I mean building the huts is something that benefits all of us.  All anyone does around here is play around, the littluns are the exception I mean they don't know what there doing and if they tried to help us they would probably mess things up. Thank god for Simon, he's the only one other than me who ever does anything around here.  In my opinion Simon should be the leader of this island, I mean he's a nice guy and the littluns actually like him.  It seems like in Simon's world there are no vicissitudes, he's just so calm and peace full.

Don't get me started with Jack, he is just so inscrutable and rapt.  What is wrong with that guy, why does he just have to kill a pig, why is that his number one priority, you can see it in his opaque eyes.  He's not doing it for us, you know for the food, he's doing it for himself, just to prove to everyone that he can kill it.  Maybe we actually need adults on this island maybe they could put every ones act together, and make us start acting like a team.  Honestly right now I have no idea what to do to make everyone listen to me, I've tried lots of different ways, but none of them have worked, yet.  I can't wait until my father comes to rescue us, I'm so sick of this island.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #2

Chapter 2 - Fire on the Mountain

Fire! - by Piggy

I hate this island! The little boy with the birthmark said that there were beasties here! Who would want to live on an island with beasties, Jack and Ralph don't believe the little boy, but then again, they dont beilive or litsen to anyone, even me! In fact no one litsens to me and everyone tels me to shut up, Jack and Ralph aren't the only ones that have good ideas. Today in fact Ralph had a terribble idea, once again he brought up that his dad would come and rescue us, and that is never going to happen because nobody knows were here! While he was taking about being rescued he mentioned building a fire, and everythng just got out of hand form there.

I tried to tell everyone that it was a bad idea, but they wouldn't litsen to me. As soon as Ralph mentioned "fire", every one went crazy in the forest and began to get wood. Everyone realized that they couldn't make a fire out of just wood so they pinched my specs to make a fire! It worked, but the fire got really out of hand and so did my ahsma. The fire is all Ralphs fault, Im really sick of Ralph, and I just met him today. I can't beilive he told everyone that my name was Piggy, I can't trust that guy.

Lord of the Flies: Journal #1

Chapter 1 - The Sound of the Shell

Day 1 - by Simon

It was just a normal day, or at least I thought it was, like every year we got on the plane to go back to school, then it happened, and I didn't realize what was going on and the next thing I knew our plane crashed in the middle of nowhere. We realized that there were no adults and naturally Jack took charge of the rest of the choir and me, he made us walk for miles and miles trying to find any sort of civilization.  All of this walking was very tiresome and it was very hot, it did not help at all that we were wearing those uncomfortable hambone frills.  

As we were about to reach the top of  mountain a strange sound filled the air, it was sort of like a trumpet, but different, as soon as we heard it Jack made us go all be way back down the mountain we had just climbed, and follow the strange sound that we knew nothing about, for all we knew it could have been some sort of monster or something. As got closer to the mysterious sound I have to admit I started to get kind of scared, but exited at the same time.  The mysterious noise turned out to be nothing but a boy with hair of tow blowing on some type of shell, there were other boys with him, and I recognized all of them from the plane, they must have survived the crash as well.  Jack told us to get in line while he talked to the boy who was blowing the horn, then all of a sudden I guess the heat really got to me because I fainted. 

When I woke up I heard everyone talking about having a chief, so all of a sudden out of nowhere I said "why don't we vote", I guess no one knew that I had woke up, because every one was surprised to hear my voice "yeah! lets vote", "yeah", "yeah", "yeah", was all you could hear everywhere.  So we had a vote, and Jack was not happy about it, because he knew he was not going to win, and he didn't, Ralph did, I think that he will, make a great chief.  As his first order in being chief Jack decided to have himself and two other people explore the island.  First he choose, Jack, then to my surprise and everyone else's he choose me!  

Once again we went up that huge mountain, but this time we actually stayed up there for a while.  We a huge rock, probably the biggest rock I have ever scene in my entire life, we all looked at each other "1, 2, 3" and we pushed the rock, it fell all the way to the bottom of the mountain, as we watched it roll down we were proud of our accomplishment.  On the mountain we discovered that we really were on an island because we were completely surrounded by water. It was getting late and we were starting to get hungry, we found a baby pig and Jack was about to kill it, but it ran away. Our first day on this island wasn't all that bad, I wonder what we will have to encounter in the future, I hope we won't have to stay here forever.

Because of Romek: OP#4

1. Wow, that's a hard question, there were so many horrible things that happened in this book. I think that one of the worst parts in the book was Romeks death, when David Faber described this he described it to the last detail, and I couldn't stand it, I  cried.  I can't believe that people would actually do something like that, this part in the book was just so shocking and horrible.

2. In Krawinkle David's job is to feed the dogs.  This was a hard and scary job for him but in  way it was a good thing that he got this job because it saved him from doing the harder jobs of the camp and he got to eat some of the dogs food.

3. The last camp that David goes to is pretty intense, there are dead bodies everywhere, and if you are not dead, you are dying, I could barely imagine this camp in my head, like most of the things that I read in this book, i couldn't believe that it was real.  At this last camp David was very sick and he was weeks away from dying, I cannot believe he survived, he got lucky in so many situations in this book. 

4. It is so sad how when people started saying 'were free' most people did not believe them, because they were prisoned for so long.  David went through so much and I think that his most triumphant moment was when he finally realized 'I survived', finally realized that it was all over, and realized that he ended up keeping his promise to his mother. 

5. David Faber's book Because of Romek, should be required in all middle schools, high schools, and universities because all students should learn about the horrors of the Holocaust.  This book is about a teenage boy that went through many terrible evets caused by Hitler and the Nazi's.  The Holocaust a horrible genocide of the past and students should be educated about it so that they can learn about what people had to go through.  It is important to learn about the Holocaust so that another Holocaust does not reapeat in the future.

Renaissance Ball Project Reflection

~Name~
Sofia Garcia

~Project~
Renaissance Ball Project

~Class~
BD

~Dates~
June 5th 2008

Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to go back in time to the Renaissance and become a famous Renaissance character. In order to become an important Renaissance figure we had to research them, create a biography on them, and lastly we had to become them in a Renaissance Ball. To prepare for the Renaissance Ball we had to learn about how they dressed and danced back then, and while we were at the ball we got to learn all about other famous Renaissance figures.

What I learned:
In this project I was Ferdinand Magellan, so I learned all about him. Magellan was the first explorer to lead a voyage that went all around the world. Before this project I had never heard of Magellan before, now I know all about his life. In this project I didn't only learn about Magellan, but I also learned about other things in the Renaissance, we learned about many aspects of the Renaissance including literature, the arts, science, mathematics, cartography, engineering, the human anatomy, all of these aspects were advanced in the Renaissance. We learned about Florence , which was one of the main city-states of the Renaissance and we learned about what it was like to live there. We also learned about so many other things but it would take forever for me to write it all.

Reflection:
Overall I liked this project because I learned so much about the Renaissance. My least favorite part was taking all of the notes on the Renaissance because it took a long time and it hurt my hand. My favorite part was getting ready for the Renaissance ball because it was fun to chose what we were going to wear. If I were to do this project again I would probably spend more time on my biography because I felt that it could have been longer.

Artifacts:
here is a link to my Magellan biography-
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=dg7dxkbh_33hg2j39g5&hl=en

Because of Romek: OP#3

1) I thought that David Faber's community meeting was really interesting.  I couldn't believe that someone that went thorough that much was standing right in front of me.  As he was speaking he had so much passion in his voice and he would get really emotional.  I think that it's so awesome the way that he kept that promise to his mom, telling everyone about his experiences.

2) I think that Romek was proud of David because he was helping destroy Nazi weapons, and he was being really clever and brave.  I think that if I was Romek I would be really proud of David too.

3) I think that the main reason why the Gestapo spared David's life was  because they knew that he was young and that he wouldn't know anything about the underground and the 'blue papers'.  Maybe they thought that it was already bad enough that he had to see his brother get tortured to death, and he would go home and tell his family, and his whole family would suffer from the sadness. :(

Because of Romek: OP#2

1. I think that David wanted to keep the pigeon because it was his friend, I mean he had his family but they were all sad and worried, the pigeon was just someone that he could talk to and that would listen to him.  David's pet pigeon became very important, if it wasn't for that pigeon, David and his family would have been killed. I think that it's really cool how things like that happen.

2. I think that the sign vacation camp because I don't really think that the people of the 'outside world' knew what was really going on during the Holocaust. I think that Hitler and the Nazi's told everyone something like 'oh, were just taking the Jews on a little vacation, while we make things better' . I mean if all the other people of the world knew about what really happened during the Holocaust they would do something about and Hitler and the Nazi's didn't want that.

3. What was your worst experience during the Holocaust?

How did your experience of surviving the Holocaust change the way you look at life?

Because of Romek: OP#1

1. Since my website group decided to make our website on three important events in history including the Holocuast I already have some backround knowlage on the Holocaust, the Nazi's, World War ||, and Hitler. Our group did a lot of reasearch on this subject, but since this book is a true story written by a survivour of the Hlocaust that went though many diffrent unfourtanoute expeirinces I think that I am going to learn a lot more. For example I've already learned a little bit about the really bad things that the Nazi's would do to the Jews inn these first few chapters.

2.a) David has a very big family, he has a lot of sisters and one brother, Romek, who right now is not with the family. Even though David has a big family they all seem very close and everyone looks out for each other.
b- I think that David remembers every last detail in the early chapters because it was the last moments before the worst evnt in his life acured. Im guessing that most of his family is going to be killed in this book, so these was probobly some of the last days that he got to spend with his whole family (not including Romek and the sister in England).

3. I think that the way David rescued his father showed that he cares a lot about his family and that he would do anyhting for them. When David left the house to rescue his father he did not even know if his father was alive and he knew he was risking his own life by leaving the house. From what I have read in the book so far I think that it shows that David is a very brave and caring person.

Aztec Mural Project Reflection

~Name~
Sofia Garcia

~Project~
The Aztec Mural Project

~Class~
BD

~Dates~
May 5th, 2008

Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to learn about the Aztec culture while expressing what we what we learned about them in art. During this project we focused on the main aspects of the Aztec everyday life like religion, social classes, family life, art, sacrifices, markets, food, clothing, and sacrifices. After we had a little bit of background knowledge on these subjects we got to make our own Aztec murals. Before we began making our murals we went to Chicano Park and looked at the murals to get some inspiration for our own murals. Most people choose a main theme for their murals like gods, social life, and sacrifices. In our murals we had to be creative while incorporating Aztec symbols.

What I Learned:
In this project I learned all about the Aztecs and how they lived. The Aztecs were an ancient civilization that lived during the 14th, 15th, and 16th century. The Aztecs lived in the Valley of Mexico, the main city of the Aztecs was Tenochtitlan, this was like the capital of all Aztec cities. The Aztecs were very religious and they had many gods. One of their main gods was the god of the sun, this god was important because the Aztecs believed that if the sun did not come up the next day then the world had ended. So for the sun to come up every day the y had to give the sun 'sun juice' which was human blood, which was the reason why the Aztecs believed that human sacrifices were so important. To the Aztecs it was an honor to be sacrificed. When it comes to the Aztecs there is so much that one can talk about but that would take forever so this is just a little bit of what I learned in this project.

Reflection:
Overall I really liked this project because I learned a lot while having fun painting the mural. My least favorite part of this project was cleaning up all of the the paint because it took forever and the carpet cleaner smelled really bad. If I were to do this project again I would spend more time on the Artist statement because we focused a lot on the mural and saved the last minute. In this project i didn't only learn about Aztecs and murals but I also learned how to work in groups a little bit better, since a couple of the people that were kind of distracting I learned how to deal with it ad not let it get in the way of doing my work.

Artifacts:
Here is a picture of a mural that we saw in Chicano Park

A Time for Dancing: OP#3

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 4.21.08
TITLE: A Time for Dancing
TIME: 1 hour
AUTHOR: Davida Wills Hurwin
PAGES:
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK:
RESPONSE:

1) I just finished reading ~Part 3~ of A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin, I thought that this was a very good book. Even though Julie had cancer, for some reason I was really surprised when Julie died and I was so sad. The end of the book was so sad when Julie was in coma and Sam had to say goodbye to her.  I can't imagine saying goodbye to someone knowing that it was goodbye forever.  Especially someone who was my best friend and that I was that close to, that part was so sad.

 

2)A part in the end that really surprised  me was when Sam said that she saw Jack and Rachel crying at Jules' funeral.  I just thought that that was weird since Jack and Rachel never really seamed to like Jules and Sam , it's sad when people die but I did't expect for Rachel to be crying about it, she even told Sam that she did'nt like her.

 

3)How do you think this is going to affect Rosie's future?

A Time for Dancing: OP#2

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 4.7.08
TITLE: A Time for Dancing
TIME: 1 hour
AUTHOR: Davida Wills Hurwin
PAGES: 77-154
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 187
RESPONSE:
1.I just finished ~Part 2~ of A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin. I this part of the book it was mostly about Julie getting her chemo therapy, until the end of the part when Julie told her parents that she wasen't going to do her chemo thrapy anymore. I was vry suprised when Julie told her parents that she was not going to do her chemo therapy anymore. It must of took Julie long time to come to this decision, because now that she is stoping her chemo therapy she put herself at risk that the cancer could get bigger and she will not have the chemo therapy to fight it, so she knowa that she is putting herself at risk of dying. I think that Julie is a very strong person, I don't know if I could make a decision as big as she did.

2. If I was Sam and Julies mom and dad I would be really scared not knowing what is going to happen to Julie next. I doon't even know Julie, Im just reading this book and even Im kind of scared to find out what is going to happen to Julie, I hope nothig bad happens. I can't imagine how this experince is affecting Julies parents and Sam. I can'y wait to read ~Part 3~ to find out what happens to Julie.

3. What was your first reaction when you heard that Julie decided to stop having the chemo therapy?

A Time for Dancing: OP#1

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 4.1.08
TITLE: A Time for Dancing
TIME: 1 hour
AUTHOR: Davida Wills Hurwin
PAGES: 74
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 74
RESPONSE:

1. I have just finished ~Part 1~ of A Time for Dancing by Davida Wills Hurwin. There are many characters in this book but the main ones are Juliana (Julie) and Samantha (Sam). Julie and Sam had been best friends forever and they did everything together, but the summer before senior year Julie is diagnosed with cancer. When I was reading the book and found out that Julie was diagnosed with cancer I was not suprised because it already said it on the back cover of the book, so if I was the author I would not tell the readers at the back cover of the book because I had to read like 70 pages before she finally told sus that Julie had cancer.

2. While I was reading this book it made me relize that life is just so un-predicactable. Julie and Sam were making plans for their summer and all of a sudden two weeks later Julie found out that she had cancer. Julie was just a healthy dancer she wasen't like a 60-year-old who had been smokiong his whole life. This book made me relize that AnYtHiNg can happen to anyone at any moment.

3. What do you think is going through Julies dad's mind? In the book it says that he's not being himself.

MC Website Project Reflection

~Name~
Sofia Garcia

~Project~
Moral Courage Website Project

~Class~
BD

~Dates~
March 14th 2008

Purpose:
The purpose of this project was to learn about a certain subject that we got to choose with our groups, we had to research this subject and become experts on it. In order to learn about our subjects we had to get in groups of 5-6 people, make a website, and enter in the Think Quest website contest. We created a website full of content of the subjects that we choose. One of the main reasons that we did this project was to learn about moral courage, which is when someone stands up for what they believe in regardless of what other people think. We had to relate the topic of our website to the subject of moral courage.

What I Learned:
The subject that my group choose was music and how it relates to important events in history. My group choose The Holocaust, The Great Depression, and The Vietnam War. My research topic was The Holocaust, so in this project I learned all about the Holocaust. Even though my research topics were not The Great Depression or The Vietnam War I still learned a lot about these topics as well. Since this was a website project I got way better at working with Macromedia Dreamweaver. There were also some other things that I learned, like I learned how to working groups better since this project was done in groups of five to six.
Reflection:
Since this project had a lot to do with the computer and technical stuff it was very frustrating when we did not save something that we worked really hard on and it got deleted. If I were to do this project again I think that we should spend more time on the graphics and not wait until the last minute to get the music since our website was called -the music-. Even though we were missing a couple of things I'm really glad that we spent most of our time on the content of the site.
Artifacts:
our website!-
file://///k2/homes/My%20DP/Internet%20Stuff/index.htm

Independent Reading: week 3

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 3.9.08
TITLE: Parvana's Journey
TIME: 2 HOURS
AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis
PAGES: 196
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 196
RESPONSE:
The book Parvana's Journey is the sequel to the book that I read two weeks ago, The Breadwinner. This book tales place two years after the first book. The difference between Parvana's journey and the  Breadwinner is that in that this book is a lot sadder than the first book. In this book Parvana's father dies so she has to travel alone in the country side of Afghanistan to find her mother and sister.  She is still disguised as a boy and if the Taliban finds her thinking she is a boy they would put her in the army, if she discovered as a girl she would get in trouble for not wearing a burqa.  Every where Parvana looks there is death and destruction.  On her journey she finds an baby boy who's mom got killed, a 9-year-old who lost his leg to land mines, and a little girl who is taking care of her aged grandmother until a bomb kills her grandmother.  Together these starving children travel Afghanistan.  This book is really sad, it made me cry, but it made me realize how good we have it and how lucky we are to live in a safe country. 

Independent Reading: week 2

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: 3.2.08
TITLE: A Mango Shaped Space
TIME: 2 HOURS
AUTHOR: Wendy Mass
PAGES: 218
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK:
RESPONSE:
This book was a story about girl named Mia, who has a disorder called synethsia. Sometimes this disorder was a good thing and someimes it was a bad thing. When Mia decides to tell every one her secret [that she has senethsia], her whole life changes people think of her diffrently and she finds out a lot of things ablout herself and about her family and friends. This is a great story about family and friendship.
In this story Mia has a cat named Mango, she named him Mango because that is the color of his name. When people have synethsia sounds and letters have colors. When Mango has a deadly sickness it makes Mia's life even harder. If I was Mia I don't think that I would wait ntil I was 13 to tell people that I had senithsia because then it would not be sucha big deal.

Independent Reading: week 1

NAME: Sofia Garcia
DATE: Feburary 22nd 2008
TITLE: The Breadwinner
TIME: 2 HOURS
AUTHOR: Deborah Ellis
PAGES 7-168
TOTAL PAGES THIS WEEK: 168
RESPONSE:
The Breadwinner by Deborrah Ellis is about a girl living in Afghanistan named Parvana. Parvana and her family are living under the Tliban which is a group of extreamly religious people who run most of the counrty. The Taliban have very strict rules about everything for example, women and girls are not alowed to leave the house, and if they do they have to wear a barqua, which was something that covered every part of your body including your face. When the Taliban finds out that Parvanas father was educated they send him to prison, and when he does there is no one to make money or buy the groceries, so Parvana has to disguise herself as a boy to help her familys survivol. This was a really sad book, but I am gald that I read it because I learned a lot.

First They KIlled My Father: Mikito's Questions

1. Who would most likely be in this novel and why?
2. What was your favorite part of this book and why is this.
3. What was your fist reaction when you found out that the dad had died?
4. Do you think the ending could have been better or do you think that the ending was just right for the book?
5. Do you think that you would be able to last as long as she did in this book?

1. Im not really sure, I don't think that I know the characters well enough to say which one I am like the most. The only character that I know well is Loung and I don't think that I am like her because I probobly would not be as strong as she was thorough this whole expirience.
2. I think that my favorite part of the book was when they got to America because it was sort of when all of the bad stuff was over and when there was hope for once in the book.
3. I was not really suprised when they dad died since the book was caled "First The Killed My Father" but it was a sad part of the book.
4. I think that thier were a couple of questions in the end that were not answered but other than that I liked the way that this book ended.
5. Im not really sure, I would be really tired from the work, sad to be away from my family, mad at the Khemer Rouge, and hungry.

First They Killed My Father: Lexi's Questions

1. What would you do if you heard this, and went through everything, that she did. Would you imfor people about what they are really doing, or would u be quiet?
2. What would YOU do in a situation like this if you were her?
3. If u could only bring1 thing to go to where they went to, what would u bring?
4. If you had lived in cambodia at them time and you first heard about the khmer rough.. what would be ur first reaction?

1....I don't underdtand this question
2. I would probobly not be as strong as Loung was through this whole expirience, I would probobly be really scared and worried.
3. I would bring my family :)
4. When Loung first heard of the Khemer Rouge she thought that they were a good thing since she had never really heard of them, until she asked her dad about them. So my first reaction to the Khemer Rouge would proobly be what everybody else's reaction is if I didn't know what they were.

First They Killed My Father: My Questions

1) What would you do if you found out that you and you family were forced to leave your home without knowing?
2) Loung see's herself as a "strong person", do you agree with her?
3) When it comes to sides, do you agree with Youn Army or the Ankgar Army?
4) Kim made a decission to steal corn for his family, when he did this he knew that he was risking his life, would you so the same for your family?

First They Killed My Father: Rachel's Questions

1. Why do you think that her brother, Khouy is mean and "should be feared"?
2. If you saw the "strangers" coming to your town, what would you think or feel?
3. Why do you think that they didn't drive away in the really nice car, bu the old pick-up truck?
4. Why do you think just because her father is part of the government, they want to hurt her, and her family?

1. I am not really sure why Khouy is mean and "should be feared. Maybe it is because he is just one of the oldest chidren of the family and he has been through a lot.
2. If I saw strangers coming to my town I would wonder who they are and be curious. After I would find ou that they would want us to leave our city like Loung did them I would be scared and worried.
3. I think that they drove away in the pick-up truck because they had to pretend that they were peasents and not important gouverment officials so that the Khemer Rouge Army would not hurt them.
4. I think that her father is one of the leaders on a certain side of the gouvernment and they want to hurt them because they on the other side of the gouvernment, the side against the one of her father and her family.